Table of Contents

Chapter 16

Setting Up Replication

Certification Objectives *

Publishing Wizards *

Creating Publications via SQL Server Stored Procedures *

Adding a Publication *

Changing a Publication *

Adding an Article *

Managing Articles and Publications *

From the Classroom *

Setting up a Test Lab *

Subscribing Wizards *

Creating Subscriptions via SQL Server Stored Procedures *

Adding a Subscription *

Managing Subscriptions *

Certification Objectives

In the previous chapters we explained the paradigm that Microsoft SQL Server uses to implement replication. We also provided you with a detailed understanding of how this can be used to meet business requirements. Now that you understand how to plan the appropriate environment, it is important to understand how to implement your plans.

Replication is similar to other functions within Microsoft SQL Server. It is similar in that there are two ways to perform these tasks: graphically through the SQL Server Enterprise Manager, and in a batch mode through SQL commands. In this chapter we will show you both methods. In SQL Server 7.0, Microsoft has added many wizards to simplify complex tasks, such as replication. We will discuss wizards as a part of our discussion regarding the use of Enterprise Manager.

All examples in this chapter have been created using default SQL Server databases running on a single database server. This has been done intentionally to make it easier for you to follow along with the example. It has also been done this way to emphasize how much experience you can gain with a single machine running Microsoft SQL Server. When possible, I recommend that you follow along with the text and examples in this chapter as you read.

Setting Up a Publishing Server

There are two primary methods used to setup and configure a publishing server. We will first walk you through the Publishing Wizards, and then show you the SQL syntax necessary to duplicate this process.

Publishing Wizards

When you select a server within the SQL Server Enterprise Manager and select the Replicating Data group of Wizards from the right panel, you will see an environment that resembles Figure 16-1. This display provides the most straightforward access to the Replication Wizards built into SQL Server. We will note other methods of accessing the wizards as we discuss them in more detail throughout this chapter.

fig 16-1.gif (23417 bytes)

Figure 1: SQL Server Enterprise Manager

The first step in setting up a publishing server is to configure the database server for publishing. To perform this function through the Enterprise Manager, select the Configure Replication option from the screen in Figure 16-1. The Publisher and Distributor Properties window will open. This window can also be accessed by selecting Tools | Replication | Configure Publishing, Subscribers and Distribution from the context menu of a given server in the Enterprise Manager. Select the Publication Databases tab and you will see the window that is shown in Figure 16-2. You may see a different database list, as only the Northwind and Pubs databases are installed by default. Any databases that you have created on your server will appear in this list. From this window, you can configure what databases are available for Transactional and/or Merge Replication by adding or removing the checkmark.

Figure 2: Configuring Databases for Publication

After you have configured your databases for the appropriate publication options, you need to select the Publication Access List tab so that you can configure the appropriate security. As shown in Figure 16-3, you can view the existing list and then add or remove any users configured on your server. This option allows you to create a standard access list that will apply to all publications that do not have a custom access list assigned to them. Managing this list effectively will minimize the amount of customizing necessary when you create each publication.

Figure 3: Configuring the Default Publication Access List

Once you have the overall Publication Server configuration completed, you are now ready to begin creating Publications. The simplest way to use the Create Publication Wizard is to click on the Create Publication option displayed in the right pane of Figure 16-1. The wizard can also be accessed by selecting Tools | Replication | Create and Manage Publications from the context menu of either the server or a specific database in the left pane of Enterprise Manager. When you have performed either of the above options, you will see the first window of the Create Publication Wizard that is shown in Figure 16-4. In this window, you will select the database that contains the data that you wish to publish, and press the Create Publication button.

Figure 4: Selecting the Database When Creating a Publication

After you have selected the database that you will use for your publication, the Publication Wizard will review that database to determine if there are currently any publications in that database. If it finds any, it will provide you with the window shown in Figure 16-5. This window gives you the option of using an existing publication as a template. This is particularly useful if you are filtering data differently for different subscribers, (such as distributing data to different geographies) as a majority of the publication information will be the same.

Figure 5: Selecting a Template For Creating Publications

The first step in creating your new publication can be seen in Figure 16-6. You must determine what type of publication you wish to set up: snapshot, transactional or merge. The wizard provides administrators with a short summary of the functionality that is provided by each type of replication.

Figure 6: Choosing the Type of Publication to Create

Exam Watch: Figure 16-6 does a good job of highlighting the fact that Transactional Publication is not supported on a Windows 95/98 Server. The Wizard grays the option out for you. Remembering this fact will help you to eliminate some answers on several exam questions.

After you have identified what type of publication you are creating, you will need to provide information about the subscribers. It is important to determine whether all subscribers will be using Microsoft SQL Server databases or if you will be publishing to heterogeneous subscribers (see Figure 16-7). This will determine what type of data files are created by the Snapshot Agent. If we are providing data to SQL Server subscribers, then the native format will provide the best performance. This native format will be useless to a non-SQL Server database server. These are the same data formats used by BCP.

Figure 7: Specifying the Types of Subscribers For the New Publication

Now that you have identified the type of publication you are creating and the format that it should be written in, it is time to determine what data (articles) will be included in your publication. The first step of this process is where you can select the tables that contain the data you are going to publish (see Figure 16-8). The wizard points out that you can filter the tables further on future screens of the wizard.

Figure 8: Select the Tables With Data for Publication

After selecting the tables to be published, the wizard will prompt you to provide both a name and a description of the publication you are creating. It is important that the name be complete enough to accurately describe the purpose of the publication. The reason is that its name is all that subscribers using the Subscription Wizard will see. The description will be shown to users who select Publications within the SQL Server Enterprise Manager.

Figure 9: Providing the Name and Description for the Publication

At this stage of the wizard, you have provided all information necessary to create the simplest form of a publication; one that publishes all information in a given table (such as a roll-up replication). In production, things are not often this simple. As you can see in Figure 16-10, the wizard now prompts you to determine if you wish to apply data filters, (horizontal or vertical) or if you wish to allow anonymous subscribers. If you select No, the wizard will skip directly to the final screen shown in Figure 16-19.

Figure 10: Select to Apply Filters and Manage Subscribers or Accept Default

If you elect not to accept the defaults at this stage of the wizard, then the following will occur: the wizard will prompt you with the screen shown in Figure 16-11 to determine if you wish to filter out any columns (vertical filtering) or rows (horizontal filtering). If you choose No, the wizard will skip to Figure 16-15.

Figure 11: Electing to Use Filtering or Not

If you elect to implement filtering, the Publication Wizard will prompt you with the screen shown below in figure 16-12 to filter columns from your publication. In the left pane, you can select each table one at a time and select the appropriate columns in the right pane. This configuration allows you to apply vertical filtering to multiple tables from this single screen. This is important, as you will not get another chance during the wizard to apply vertical filtering.

Figure 12: Configuring Publication for Vertical Filtering

The next step in the wizard will prompt you with the screen shown in Figure 16-13. This will allow you to apply horizontal filtering to select a subset of the rows that you will include in each article.

Figure 13: Configuring Publications for Horizontal Filtering

For each article, you can click on the ellipse next to the filter clause, and you will be prompted with the screen shown in Figure 16-14. This screen allows you to complete the where clause for the select statement that is used to pull the appropriate data from the table.

Exam Watch. It is important to remember that even when using the wizard, you must still enter the SQL Server syntax for the where clause to perform horizontal filtering. The wizard does not provide the graphical tools that are available with Microsoft Access.

Figure 14: Entering the SQL Syntax for Horizontal Filtering

At this point, you have fully defined the data that will be included in each article and thus your publication. You will next receive the prompt shown in Figure 16-15 to determine whether you will allow updateable subscriptions. As with other screens, the wizard provides a short summary of how this will impact your environment.

Figure 15: Deciding to Allow Updateable Subscriptions

The next step in the Create Publication Wizard is to decide whether anonymous subscribers will be supported for this publication. As explained in the screen shown in Figure 16-16, and in the previous chapter, anonymous subscribers will allow you to support a large number of subscribers without placing an excessive burden on the publisher. This is often used to support Internet subscribers.

Figure 16: Deciding to Allow Anonymous Subscribers

At this point in the wizard, you have fully defined the data that will be included in the replication and the type of subscriber that will be supported. The next step in the wizard is to determine when the publication job will run. In Figure 16-17, you see the scheduling window that allows you to establish the frequency and schedule for the job.

Figure 17: Establishing the Job Schedule for Your Publication

After completing the schedule, the only remaining task in the Create Publication Wizard is to identify what users will have access. As you can see in Figure 16-18, you have the option of using the Default List that was established for this server (Figure 16-2) or you can create a custom list specific to this publication. It is important to note that even if you elect to create a custom access list, you will be able to use the default list as a template if you wish.

Figure 18: Determining Who May Access Your Publication

Now that you have provided all of the information required by the Create Publication Wizard, the wizard will provide you with the opportunity to review the information you have provided and change your input as appropriate. As you see in Figure 16-19, the information that you provided is displayed in the center window in the order that you provided the information. If it is necessary to modify this information, you should press the Back button as many times as necessary to get to the screen being revised. Once you have made your changes, you can press the Next button to the end, and all previously entered information will be retained. When all information is correct, pressing the Finish button will launch the commands necessary to create the publication.

Figure 19: Reviewing the Publication Information

Once you have pressed the Finish button, and the wizard begins to create the publication, you will see the screen shown in Figure 16-20. This screen provides you with a status of the building process. The wizard takes your input and creates the appropriate properties for the publication. During the process of creating the publication, filters are applied (vertical, then horizontal) and the publication is created. When this has completed, the Snapshot Agent will run and create the data files for the subscribers.

Figure 20: Status Screen Provided as Publication is Created

Creating Publications via SQL Server Stored Procedures

After most experienced database administrators get the opportunity to step through the Create Publication Wizard, they usually have problems with it. They typically feel that there are too many screens and that they could perform the function much faster using SQL Server syntax. As you would expect, it takes multiple SQL Server statements to replace the wizard we just stepped through. Let’s take a closer look at these commands.

Adding a Publication

The first step in performing the functions provided by the Create Publication Wizard is to create the publication. This is performed using the sp_addpublication stored procedure. Only members of the sysadmin fixed server role or db_owner fixed database role can execute sp_addpublication. Below you see the syntax necessary to create the publication we created using the wizard. Let’s take a closer look at the syntax.

EXEC sp_addpublication
@publication = 'NorthwindsCoreTables',
@restricted = 'false',
@sync_method = 'native',
@repl_freq = 'snapshot',
@description = 'Snapshot of Northwind database from Publisher JAX266',
@status = 'active',
@allow_push = 'true',
@allow_pull = 'false',
@allow_anonymous = 'false',
@enabled_for_internet = 'false',
@independent_agent = 'false',
@immediate_sync = 'false',
@allow_sync_tran = 'false',
@autogen_sync_procs = 'false'

The parameters for this command are defined below:

If running the stored procedure from your application code, you can check the return code to verify that it was successful. A return code of zero indicates that it was successful, while a return code of one indicates a failure. Check the SQL Server error log for more information about why the stored procedure failed to add the publication.

Changing a Publication

Making changes to an existing publication is closely related to the process we saw for creating the publication. You will use the sp_changepublication stored procedure. The syntax is similar to the sp_addpublication, but the code is simplified by the fact that you only need to list parameters that are being changed. In the example below, we are going to change the description to provide a better description.

sp_changepublication @publication = ‘NorthwindCoreTables’,
@property = 'description',
@value = 'Manually Created Publication for Demonstration Purposes'

Adding an Article

By now you have hopefully noticed that while we have created a publication, we haven’t made any progress toward defining the data that will be a part of the publication. This should make sense to you as you think about the replication relationships that we have previously discussed. We know that the data being replicated is a part of an article, and that the articles belong to publications. We have defined the publication, so now we must define the articles that will be a part of it.

We are going to use the sp_addarticle stored procedure to perform this function. As with the other replication related stored procedures, only members of the sysadmin fixed server role or db_owner fixed database role can execute sp_addarticle. You will also notice that the sp_addarticle stored procedure must be run once for every article being created. To contrast this the wizard provides a mechanism to build all of them simultaneously. Let’s take a look at the syntax.

EXEC sp_addarticle @publication = 'NorthwindCoreTables',
@article = 'Customers',
@source_table = 'dbo.Customers',
@destination_table = 'Customers',
@type = 'logbased',
@creation_script = null,
@description = null,
@pre_creation_cmd = 'drop',
@schema_option = 0x00,
@vertical_partition = 'false',
@ins_cmd = null,
@del_cmd = null,
@upd_cmd = null,
@filter = null,
@sync_object = null

The parameters for this command are detailed below

Value Description
logbased Log-based article
logbased manualfilter Log-based article with manual filter
logbased manualview Log-based article with manual view
logbased manualboth Log-based article with manual filter and manual view
proc exec Replicates the stored procedure execution to all subscribers of the article.
Serializable proc exec Replicates the stored procedure execution only if it is executed within the context of a serializable transaction.
Value Description
NONE No action taken.
CALL Calls a stored procedure to be executed at the subscriber. If no stored procedure is specified, the sp_MSinsert_destinationtable is used by default. To use this method of replication, you must create the specified stored procedure in the destination database of each subscriber to the article.
SQL or NULL Replicates an INSERT statement. The INSERT statement is provided values for all columns published in the article.
Value Description
NONE No action is taken.
CALL Call a stored procedure to be executed at the subscriber. If no stored procedure is specified, the sp_MSdelete_destinationtable is used by default. To use this method of replication, you must create the specified stored procedure in the destination database of each subscriber to the article.
SQL or NULL Replicates a DELETE statement. The DELETE statement is provided all primary key column values.
Value Description
NONE No action is taken.
CALL Calls a stored procedure to be executed at the subscriber. If no stored procedure is specified, the sp_MSupdate_destinationtable is used as the default. To use this method of replication, you must create the specified stored procedure in the destination database of each subscriber of the article.
SQL or NULL Replicates an UPDATE statement. The UPDATE statement is provided all column values and the primary key column values.
Value Description
None Does not use a command.
Delete Deletes the destination table.
drop (default) Drops the destination table.
Truncate Truncates the destination table.
Value Description
0x00 Disables scripting by the Snapshot Agent and uses the provided CreationScript.
0x01 Generates the object creation (CREATE TABLE, CREATE PROCEDURE, and so on).
0x10 Generates a corresponding clustered index.
0x20 Converts user-defined data types to base data types.
0x40 Generates corresponding nonclustered index(es).
0x80 Includes declared referential integrity on the primary keys.
0x71 (default) Generates the CREATE TABLE statement, creates clustered index, creates nonclustered index(es), and converts user-defined data types to base data types.
0x01 Default for stored procedure articles.

The @destination_owner parameter is used to set the name of the owner of the destination object. The default for this parameter is NULL. If the publication can be subscribed to by ODBC Subscribers, then destination_owner must be NULL.

Managing Articles and Publications

You have seen the steps necessary to create an article and place it within a publication. This process has provided a single article with a limited set of filters applied. In order to use additional stored procedures, we need to do the following: fully implement filtering, establish a custom access list, and provide ongoing management of our publications. These stored procedures are listed below with a short description of their functionality.

At this point, I would expect that you have learned a new appreciation for the replication wizards that have been provided with SQL Server 7.0. While these wizards provide the easiest way to create publications and articles, it is important that you know the related stored procedures to provide batch management as necessary.

Setting Up a Subscriber Server

Now that you have created your Publisher, it is time to set up your Subscriber. There are two primary methods to setup and configure a subscribing server. First, we will step you through the Subscribing Wizards. Second, we will show you the SQL syntax necessary to duplicate this process.

From the Classroom

Setting up a Test Lab

A test lab is very useful set-up for IT professionals. For example, having a test lab would provide a venue for testing the examples given in this book for a thorough understanding of SQL Server. The test lab would also facilitate the hands-on experience required in order to pass Microsoft Exams. Only in a test lab can you delete a database and try to restore it from backup "just for the fun of it". The following is an ideal lab for SQL 7.0 training and testing.

System Function System
Primary Server as your main SQL 7.0 System This system should run NT Server, have a Pentium processor, 64 MB of RAM, and a tape drive.
Secondary NT Server and Client This system should run NT Workstation, have a Pentium processor, and 32 MB of RAM (64 is better).
Windows 95 Server and Client This system would run Windows 95/98, have a Pentium processor, and 32 MB of RAM.

David Smith, MCSE + Internet

Subscribing Wizards

The first step in this process is performed on the publisher (unless you elect to use anonymous subscriptions). If we select the Subscribers tab on the Configure Replication window that was displayed in Figure 16-2, you will see the screen that is shown in Figure 16-21 below. On this screen, your publisher will select the servers that it will enable to subscribe to its publications.

Figure 21: Configuring Subscriber Security on the Publisher

If you get to the screen shown in Figure 16-21, but do not see the database server that you want to configure as a subscriber, you will then need to select the New Subscriber button. This will open the window that you see in Figure 16-22. This screen steps you through the process of adding your server. The selection made on this screen will determine the type of data that is provided.

Figure 22: Adding a New Subscriber at the Publisher

Once your server has been added to the list of valid subscribers for the desired publisher, it is time to begin work on the subscribing server. With the subscribing server highlighted within the Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Manager (you may refer to Figure 16-1), select the wizard labeled Pull Subscription. When this is completed, you will see the screen shown in Figure 16-23. This screen provides a good safety check, as the text on this screen documents which server is being setup as a Subscriber. If you have multiple database servers configured in your enterprise manager, it is a good practice to verify that you selected the desired server.

Figure 23: Verify the Server Being Made a Subscriber

Once you have verified that you are working on the proper server, you can proceed forward using the wizard. As you can see from the screen in Figure 16-24, the wizard will prompt you for the server and publication to which you are adding a subscription. You might find that the server you wish to subscribe to is not shown in the display. If so, then you will need to press the Register Server button and add the server to the list.

Figure 24: Selecting a Publication In Order To Subscribe

Once you have selected the appropriate publication, the Pull Subscription Wizard will prompt you for the appropriate security information. This is to establish the connection with the Publisher and Distributor. When setting up a Windows NT based subscriber, the system will determine what account the SQL Server Agent is running under. If this account is included in the access list for the desired publication, the connection will be established using this account. You will not be prompted for this information. If you are running under Windows 95/98, or the account that the SQL Server Agent is running under is not included in the access list, then you will receive the prompt shown in Figure 16-25.

Figure 25: Configuring SQL Server Synchronization Agent Security

At this stage in the Pull Subscription Wizard, you have supplied the information necessary to find and connect to the desired publication. The wizard will now prompt you to determine what to do with the published data. The wizard displays the screen shown in Figure 16-26. You must select the database into which you wish to place the published data. The wizard also provides you with the option of pressing the New Database button and creating a new database into which to place the replicated data.

Figure 26: Selecting or Creating the Destination Database

At this stage you have provided all of the information that SQL Server needs to configure the replication to occur. On the next screen, the Pull Subscription Wizard will prompt you to determine what type of initialization is required (see Figure 16-27). You have the option of initializing immediately or doing it as scheduled.

Figure 27: Configuring Subscription Initialization

At this point you will have provided all information necessary to create the subscription. The only outstanding issue is determining the schedule for your subscription. The wizard will prompt you with the screen shown in Figure 16-28. You have two options from which to choose: configuring a continuous subscription, establishing a subscription schedule, or configuring replication to occur in an on demand only configuration. It should make sense that your frequency of connectivity will impact your desired schedule. If you are attached to the network full-time, a continuous connection will provide the most updated information. At the other end of the spectrum, mobile users will most likely choose to either schedule overnight updates, or on demand processing.

Figure 28: Establishing the Distribution Agent Schedule

The Pull Subscription Wizard will now verify that all services that are needed to perform the requested initialization and replication process are running. If one or more of the required services are not running, the wizard will prompt you with the screen shown in Figure 16-29. This will give you the option of starting the services or backing up to prior screens and changing your requirements.

Figure 29: Configuring Replication Agents for Automatic Startup

Now that you have provided all necessary configuration information, the Pull Subscription Wizard will display the screen shown in Figure 16-30. This screen provides you with one final opportunity to review the information you provided before implementing the subscription. As you review the information, notice that the Wizard does not jeopardize security by displaying the login and password information that you provided. All other information is displayed.

Figure 30: Reviewing the Pull Subscription Wizard Information

After reviewing the information that you provided to the wizard, you may click the Finish button. This will create the Subscription. As the wizard is created, it will display the screen shown in Figure 16-31. SQL Server includes an arrow along the left margin to notify you as each step of the process is completed.

Figure 31: Status Screen Provided as Subscription is Created

When your subscription is complete, the wizard will provide you with a message letting you know one of the following: that it has successfully created your subscriptions, or it will display error messages warning of failures. In Figure 16-32 you see an example of a successful completion. If you receive error messages, check your event log for additional details.

Figure 32: Successful Creation of a Subscription

Creating Subscriptions via SQL Server Stored Procedures

Creating a subscription using SQL Server stored procedures is more straightforward than creating publications, but odds are you will still find the wizard to be your preferred method for creating subscriptions. Lets take a closer look at the related stored procedures.

Adding a Subscription

To add a subscription to your database server, you must run the sp_addsubscription stored procedure. The syntax for this command is outlined below:

sp_addsubscription @publication = 'NorthwindsCoreTables'
,@article = 'Customers'
,@subscriber = 'Jax266'
,@destination_db = Customers'
,@sync_type = 'automatic'
,@status = 'active'
,@subscription_type = 'pull'
,@update_mode = ‘read-only’
,@loopback_detection = ‘true’
,@frequency_type = 32
,@frequency_interval = NULL
,@frequency_relative_interval = 1
,@frequency_recurrence_factor = NULL
,@frequency_subday = 1
,@frequency_subday_interval = NULL
,@active_start_time_of_day = 070000
,@active_end_time_of_day = 220000
,@active_start_date = 19990101
,@active_end_date = 20011231
,@optional_command_line = NULL
,@reserved = NULL
,@agent_mode = ‘sqlagent’

Managing Subscriptions

There are several other stored procedures that an administrator can use to manage subscriptions. These procedures are highlighted below:

Configuring a Distribution Database

Up to this point we have focused on the creation and configuration of the Publisher and a Subscriber. When we created our Publisher, we assigned the distribution database that we would use. Now it is time to take a closer look at the configuration of the distribution database. This process is performed on the server that is functioning as the Distributor. It is performed either locally or remotely via the Enterprise Manager. To configure the distributor, select the Distributor tab on the Configure Replication window that was displayed in Figure 16-2. The first screen you will see in this process is displayed in Figure 16-33. This screen provides the access necessary to configure the database settings, as well as configuring replication agents.

Figure 33: Configuring the Distribution Database

It is important to make note of the Name on this screen to verify that you are working with the desired server. After verifying the correct server is being edited, select the appropriate database and press the Properties button. The wizard will open the screen displayed in Figure 16-34. This screen documents the Publishers that are currently using this Distributor. This screen also allows you to modify how many hours or days the transactions are kept, as well as determining how long performance records are kept for administrator evaluation.

Figure 34: Establishing Data Retention Periods for the Distributor

After you have saved the data retention parameters that you set, the wizard will return you to the screen shown in Figure 16-33. Pressing the Agent Profiles button will bring you to the screen shown in Figure 16-35. From this screen you can configure the replication agents as necessary to fit your environment. This includes managing all types of replication.

Figure 35: Configuring Agent Profiles on the Distributor

Verifying Replication

With so many companies having mission-critical applications that constantly require updated data, it is important that you monitor replication. Replication Monitor is a SQL Server tool that allows you to monitor replication so that you can verify its status and troubleshoot a replication problem if it occurs. You can only use Replication Monitor if the SQL Server is set up as a distributor and you are a member of the sysadmin server role. Replication Monitor can be used to:

Exercise 17-6 will show you how to view the progress of replication.

Exercise 16-1: Viewing the progress of replication

  1. Click on Start | Programs | Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 | Enterprise Manager.
  2. Expand SQL Server Group and then expand the distributing server.
  3. Expand Replication Monitor and then click Agents.
  4. Click the Agent to Monitor. There are four agents to choose from:
  1. Click on snapshot agent.
  2. Right click on the row in the pane on the right, and click Agent History.

Certification Summary

In moving through this chapter, you had the opportunity to view the details of how Publishers, Subscribers, and Distributors are created and configured. As a better understanding was gained of the complexity of SQL Server replication, you likely came to the conclusion that the wizard provides value to even the most experienced Database Administrator. As a result, it is reasonable to expect more of the SQL Server 7.0 exam to relate to the wizards and graphical interfaces than earlier versions of the SQL Server exams.

Early in this chapter you had the opportunity to see how publications are created, both graphically and via SQL syntax. While the wizard made this process appear fairly straightforward, our review of the SQL syntax taught us that the creation of a publication includes multiple steps. These steps included creating the publication, creating the articles to be included, applying filters to the articles, and assigning the appropriate permissions.

Our review of the steps necessary to create a subscription and to configure a distribution server showed them to be more reasonable tasks to attempt via the SQL syntax. The graphical interface (including wizards) offers ease of administration. Despite this, our review of the SQL syntax shows there are many parameters that are given default values via the GUI. These values can only be modified via SQL syntax. We finished by discussing the importance of verifying replication. SQL Server 7.0 comes with Replication Monitor. Replication monitor can show you real-time status of replication and can sent alerts on replication related events.

Two-Minute Drill